Danny Boy's Pizza Co., a Northeast Ohio pizza chain that has operated for more than 30 years out of suburban strip malls and standalone shops, is finally coming downtown. The company plans to open its first Cleveland location in the Hanna Building at 2033 E. 14th St., taking over the 3,600-square-foot space long occupied by Green Rooster Farms, with an opening targeted for early 2027. According to the National Park Service, the Hanna Theater was built in 1921 and occupied the 16-story Hanna Building.
The move places Danny Boy's squarely inside Playhouse Square, the city's business and theater district, according to Cleveland.com. The new restaurant will seat about 100 people in its main dining room and bar, with an additional 35 seats upstairs in a private space that comes with its own bar and restroom. Accordion-style front windows are designed to open onto a patio during warmer months, giving the location an outdoor dining option once it settles into the neighborhood.
A Reboot Built for the Theater Crowd
Danny Boy's is describing the downtown spot as a reboot with a trendier design and a more focused menu, according to the same report. Tamaira Price, the company's director of operations, said the goal is to preserve what makes Danny Boy's recognizable while adapting it for a faster-paced, high-density setting. Price said the pizza is distinguished by its particular interpretation and proportions of sauce, dough, cheese and toppings, and the chain's signature offering remains an American-style pan pizza with a light, fluffy crust and crispy bottom.
The new location will keep several menu staples intact, including the honey bee pizza, hand-breaded chicken tenders with Danny Boy's signature dipping sauce, and the bistro salad. Diners will still be able to choose from five crust options — traditional, deep dish, New York thin, old-school DB and cauliflower — though the overall menu will be slightly smaller and more focused than at the chain's suburban locations in Rocky River, North Olmsted, Broadview Heights, Tallmadge, North Canton and Sandusky. The streamlined lineup is intended to keep service fast during lunch and dinner rushes, Price said, and the new spot will also add handcrafted cocktails, beer and wine to the mix. Planned hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
“Our goal is to bring new energy and new faces to the neighborhood,” Price said, adding that she wants Playhouse Square to be a place where people can eat, socialize and stay whether or not a show is scheduled that night.
Joining a Fast-Growing Restaurant Row
Danny Boy's arrival adds to a wave of dining investment that has brought nine new restaurants to Playhouse Square over the past two years, per Cleveland.com's reporting. Recent additions to the district include Gochujang, The Brasserie and the Bulkley Bar, along with Encore, Ben & Jerry's, Something Good Social Kitchen and The Friars' Table — the last of which Hoodline covered when it reported that Michael Shaikh's dinner and talk was scheduled for September 22. Hospitality group Hangry Brands is separately expected to open Lionheart Reserve, featuring nitro cold brew and an expanded breakfast menu, later this year.
Craig Hassall, CEO of Playhouse Square, said Danny Boy's will add another dining option to an expanding district. The district's pull for restaurateurs is rooted in scale: Playhouse Square is the second-largest performing arts center in the country behind Lincoln Center, with 12 performance spaces. It also holds roughly 40,000 season ticket holders for its KeyBank Broadway Series, the largest season-ticket base for touring Broadway in North America.
A District Built to Keep Growing
Beyond touring Broadway, Playhouse Square is home to eight resident companies, including the Cleveland Play House, Cleveland Ballet, Great Lakes Theater and the Cleveland International Film Festival, which keep foot traffic flowing through the neighborhood year-round. The district's historic theaters remain central to its identity. According to Downtown Cleveland, more than 350 public activations in 2025 generated foot traffic that supported safety, retail, and vibrancy. Cleveland.com reported that downtown Cleveland had overall office occupancy of 80.2% in 2025 and about 21,000 residents.
That steady stream of visitors is about to get an easier path to a drink with dinner. Playhouse Square is considering a Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area, a plan Hoodline first reported on back in the spring when it was still poised to turn sidewalks into an open-container zone. If approved, the DORA would let patrons carry alcoholic beverages outdoors within the district's boundaries, adding fuel to the kind of patio and pre-show cocktail culture that Danny Boy's accordion windows appear built for.
Whether the district's restaurant boom continues to pay off for newcomers or starts to strain the available crowd remains an open question as more concepts move in. For now, Danny Boy's joins a run of openings that Hoodline has tracked closely, including reporting this spring on a former data analyst who bet big on a new Cleveland restaurant in the same arts district.
